William Blake

A poet, artist, and mystic, Blake created an effulgent mythological universe all his own, which he depicted in a vast and varied body of drawings, paintings, prints, and illuminated books that express his radical politics and spiritual visions, his childlikeness and his virtuosity. This superbly illustrated volume, overseen by Tate curator Hamlyn and created to accompany the largest Blake exhibit ever mounted, provides an unprecedented tour of Blake's cosmos. Biographer Peter Ackroyd vividly describes Blake's lifelong religious sensibility and mercurial temperament. Oxford University rector Marilyn Butler sketches the social arena in which Blake created his poetry and art, ablaze with visions, sustained by his loving wife, and driven to distraction by his work as an engraver. There is much to grasp here, from Blake's paganism and biblical interpretations to his dramatizing of class strife, fascination with physiology and psychology, love of the Gothic, and belief in art as a spiritual endeavor. The great tension and high emotion in his work, the mystery and eloquence, all demand the long and repeated immersions this resplendent book invites. Donna Seaman

Editions of Blake's poetry which as an artist and printer he frequently engraved and published himself most often fail to reproduce his integral illustrations, or do so in poor enough quality as to negate the effort. This Complete edition from the Blake Trust, published last year in a Thames and Hudson hardback edition that is now out of print, should replace the b&w-only Dover edition (but not David V. Erdman's commentary therein, or his reading text The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake) for any reader. The 366 crisp color and 30 b&w reproductions here, culled from the scholarly Princeton University Press six-volume annotated set, are little short of a revelation, giving us Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, America, Milton, Jerusalem and the rest of the Blake canon in a form acceptably close, as Binder's introduction makes clear, to the way Blake wanted us to see them. Many of these works are currently hanging in a special Blake exhibition the largest ever at the Met in New York, for which the Abrams book serves as an informative and revealing catalogue. Hamlyn, a senior curator at London's Tate (where the exhibition originated), and the University of York's Phillips present prints, drawings, paintings, selections from Blake's own illuminated books and other relevant materials, such as snapshots from Blake's marvelous editions of Edward Young's Night Thoughts and Thomas Gray's Poems. Introductory essays from novelist and biographer Peter Ackroyd (Blake; T.S. Eliot) and Marilyn Butler, rector of Oxford's Exeter College, synopsize Blake's life and times, while extensive "label copy" situates each work as presented. While the visual overview is useful and some of the detail shots of larger works are compelling, poetry readers who have to choose will take the Complete. (Apr. 30) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

"If a thing loves, it is infinite," observed William Blake. If not infinite, Blake's art has certainly withstood the test of time so far, and his great passion for his work is displayed with a vengeance in this exhibition catalog. Tate curator Hamlyn has mounted the largest ever exhibit of Blake's work, and the lavish catalog includes more than 250 full-color illustrations. The thematic arrangement suits Blake's art and gives the book a holistic and organic feel. More methodological readers will find the written chronology, bibliography, and index great organizers of the material. Blake's keen interests in things Gothic, biblical texts, and foreign poetry and history are enumerated; his political views and printmaking innovations are seen in historical context; and key aspects of his major works are teased apart and analyzed. Despite the sheer amount of his work, produced in manic periods of creativity, Blake died in poverty and obscurity. Though the authors do not aim to supplant classic Blake biographies and overviews, their tremendous and copiously illustrated volume will surely be helpful to Blake connoisseurs everywhere. Recommended for larger libraries and libraries specializing in art history. Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.